ABSTRACT
Like most of us some of Kaaroor’s school teachers have negative shades. In ‘Fire-crackers’ a Sir visits his old pupil often invariably during lunch time, causing much discomfort to the family. He insists on having a pre-lunch Malayali style oil bath in the nearby river, sits like an aristocrat for his meal but gulps food like one who had been under-eating for days. An Arabic teacher, employed on condition that he would pass the necessary exam for making him permanent, avoids appearing for the exam. The ageing Sir had merely to summon one of his stock ailments at the last moment to avoid the exam. He knew he would not be thrown out as Arabic teachers were then a rare species. Another Sir with a knee pain would place his leg on his table for comfort and cut an indecorous posture. He knew how to defend himself even though some alerted him that a School Inspector was around. He would pretend to be reading some book and the children would happily play around. Sirs in ‘Miserable Weekend’ and ‘Iyer vs Iyer,’ two notable pieces, amply confirm the ‘other side’ of some school teachers who are supposed to be role models.
